Poland hails breakthrough with Ukraine over second world war Volhynia atrocity
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Tusk reach agreement on massacre of up to 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists. Poland has hailed a breakthrough in a painful historical dispute with Ukraine, after it said its neighbour had agreed to allow exhumations of Polish citizens massacred by Ukrainian nationalists in the second world war.
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Warsaw is one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters in the EU, offering military and diplomatic support, but for years ties have been strained over a historical atrocity – the massacre of as many as 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian nationalists between 1943 and 1945.
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After a meeting with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Warsaw on Wednesday, Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said the two countries were finding “a common language and methods of joint action on the Volhynia massacre and “sensitive dramatic issues in our history”.
“They require empathy from Ukraine towards Poland and from Poland towards Ukraine,” Tusk told reporters. The Polish government has said Ukraine has agreed to the exhumation of remains of the first victims to take place, to enable Polish families to bury their relatives with dignity.
The mutual understanding and action “deserves to be seen as a breakthrough” Tusk said. Zelenskyy and Tusk pledged to “continue developing constructive historical dialogue” as part of a wide-ranging statement covering European security, cutting off Europe’s use of Russian energy and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
